Considering a Silverstone Strider SFX SST-SX600-G

pumaz · 21 Dec 2014 at 10:41

I have a HTPC based on the following components:

Silverstone SG05 with 450w Sfx PSU
ASRock Z77E-ITX Motherboard
i5 2500K
8GB memory
H50 CPU Cooler
HD 7950
256GB SSD
3TB Hard Drive

I recently upgraded the video card from a 7850 (was working fine with 7850) to a 7950 and now every time I start a game like Trackmania stadium or F1 2013 my computer reboots without warning immediately, less demanding games last a little longer. I've checked event log and it is a critical error event 41 which indicates loss of power. My PSU is a few years old and the first version so I'm 99% sure it's the PSU.

There's not a huge range of SFX PSU's and after much deliberating I'm leaning towards the very expensive SST-SX600 because of the extra headroom it will give me. I am a little concerened as I've heard the fan is noisy and it also chirps! £100 on a 600w PSU is silly expensive and I want to make sure it's a good one.

Are Overclockers selling the latest revision, how longs the warranty and does anyone have experience with this PSU and what are your thoughts?

Unfortunately I have a history of buying problematic hardware and just want to end the this

pumaz · 21 Dec 2014 at 14:38

Bought the 7950 off a member here with good trust etc. I really don't think its the 7950 as it doesn't display any. Garbled graphics, flashing or anything else associated with a failing card. I have the latest BIOS and have gone over my connections and it's all good.

I thought about the 450w version but came to the conclusion that for an extra £20 it'll give more piece of mind and future proofing. I'm fine with the fan ramping up while gaming as long as it's fairly quiet while watching movies etc.

I'll have to make a decision soon so I can get it ordered before Christmas!

pumaz · 21 Dec 2014 at 23:10

Another thought I had, For the same price as this PSU I could buy a SG08-Lite and a decent ATX PSU.

I do love my SG05 though!

pumaz · 22 Dec 2014 at 11:27

MichaelAwkward said:
If you wait a little and have the space, there's the Silverstone SFX-L 500W coming with 120mm fan. The 600W is good, but noisier and not necessarily that much more efficient than the 450W versions.

Thanks for drawing my attention to this

After much research I was put off the SG08 and ATX PSU idea due to the strange placement of the PSU, difficult fitting of my H50 radiator and reports of restrictions to GPU height and careful selection of PSU!

Also decided against the new Silverstone SFX G's due to many reports of noisy fan, pointless modular design that means a thicker cable bunch in a typical setup than the normal tube of cables coming out the corner. I also think they're too expensive for what they are!

In the end I needed a PSU before Christmas and decided to replace like for like (SST-ST45SF 450W Power Supply 80+ Bronze) for £60 delivered by a competitor, strangely cheaper through their ebay shop than direct :confused:

If I get a couple of years out of it I'll be happy, but may replace it sooner than that if these new SFX-L's are good and priced right